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Otto von Habsburg

Otto von Habsburg
Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary
Portrait by Oliver Mark, 2006
Member of the European Parliament
In office
17 July 1979 – 20 July 1999
ConstituencyGermany
Head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine
In office
1 April 1922 – 1 January 2007
Preceded byEmperor Charles I
Succeeded byKarl von Habsburg
Personal details
Born(1912-11-20)20 November 1912
Wartholz Castle, Reichenau an der Rax, Lower Austria, Austria-Hungary
Died4 July 2011(2011-07-04) (aged 98)
Pöcking, Germany
Resting placeImperial Crypt (body); Pannonhalma Archabbey (heart)
Citizenship
Political partyChristian Social Union
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1951; died 2010)​
Children
Parents
Signature

Otto von Habsburg[1][2] (German: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, Hungarian: Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan Pius Ignác; 20 November 1912 – 4 July 2011)[3][4] was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece[5] upon the death of his father. He resigned as Sovereign of the Golden Fleece in 2000 and as head of the Imperial House in 2007.

The eldest son of Charles I and IV, the last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Otto was born as Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius von Habsburg, third in line to the thrones, as Archduke Otto of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia.[6][7] With his father's accession to the thrones in 1916, he was likely to become emperor and king. As his father never abdicated, Otto was considered by himself, his family and Austro-Hungarian legitimists to be the rightful emperor-king from his father's death in 1922.[8]

Otto was active on the Austrian and European political stage from the 1930s, both by promoting the cause of Habsburg restoration and as an early proponent of European integration; he was a fierce opponent of Nazism, nationalism and communism.[3][9] He has been described as one of the leaders of the Austrian Resistance.[10] After the 1938 Anschluss, he was sentenced to death by the Nazis and fled Europe to the United States.

Otto von Habsburg was Vice President (1957–1973) and President (1973–2004) of the International Paneuropean Union movement. From 1979 to 1999, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). As a newly elected Member of the European Parliament in 1979, Otto took a strong interest in the countries behind the Iron Curtain, and had an empty chair set up in the European Parliament to symbolize their absence. Otto von Habsburg played a notable role in the revolutions of 1989, as a co-initiator of the Pan-European Picnic. Later he was a strong supporter of the EU membership of central and eastern European countries.[11] A noted intellectual, he published several books on historical and political affairs. Otto has been described as one of the "architects of the European idea and of European integration" together with Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer, and Alcide De Gasperi.[12]

Otto was exiled in 1919 and grew up mostly in Spain. His devout Catholic mother raised him according to the old curriculum of Austria-Hungary, preparing him to become a Catholic monarch. During his life in exile, he lived in Switzerland, Madeira, Spain, Belgium, France, the United States, and from 1954 until his death, finally in Bavaria (Germany), in the residence Villa Austria. At the time of his death, he was a citizen of Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, [citation needed] having earlier been stateless de jure and de facto, and he possessed passports of the Order of Malta and Spain.

His funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna on 16 July 2011; he was entombed in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and his heart buried in Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Otto was born as His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Otto of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia and became the Crown Prince of these countries in 1916. After 1919, titles of nobility were formally abolished in Austria, thus in official use the "von" disappeared before Habsburg. The same applied after Habsburg became a German citizen (see Printausgabe der deutschen Wochenzeitung die Zeit of 21 July 2011, p. 36). By courtesy, he would also be referred to by the European royal and princely courts by his former style and title, i.e. as His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Otto of Austria. In the Austrian republic the authorities referred to him from 1919 as Otto Habsburg-Lothringen, a name he never used himself. Otto did not live in Austria after 1919, and his citizenship there was revoked by Adolf Hitler in 1941, making him stateless. His Austrian citizenship was only restored in 1965. Otto later became a citizen of Germany (in 1978) and Croatia (in 1990) and was issued passports of these countries, where his official name was Otto von Habsburg. As a Member of the European Parliament for Germany, his official name in the European Union was Otto von Habsburg. On his website, he used the style and name His Imperial and Royal Highness Dr. Otto von Habsburg.
  3. ^ a b Nicholas Kulish (4 July 2011). "Otto von Hapsburg, a Would-Be Monarch, Dies at 98". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Habsburg: Last heir to Austro-Hungarian empire dies". BBC News. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Die vielen Pflichten des Adels". Wiener Zeitung (in German). 5 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference harmonische Wahlkapitulation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Croatian Coronation Oath was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Scally, Derek (5 July 2011). "Death of former 'kaiser in exile' and last heir to Austro-Hungarian throne". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  9. ^ Kaiser-Sohn Otto von Habsburg gestorben Deutsche Welle, 4 July 2011 (in German)
  10. ^ Tibor Pásztory (7 July 2011). "Die beliebtesten Irrtümer zur Monarchie". Wienerzeitung.at. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  11. ^ "The Budapest Times – Hungary's leading English Language source for daily news". Budapesttimes.hu. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Trauer um Otto von Habsburg". Kathweb.at. Retrieved 8 July 2011.

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